


Run beneath my Runes

by KaryKu



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst, Drabble Collection, Introspection, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Parabatai, Parabatai Bond, Pre-Canon, Pre-Series, Runes, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 09:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11666361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaryKu/pseuds/KaryKu
Summary: [Pre-canon (teen!-Alec!centric)| Alec/Jace (one-sided) | 5 drabbles]5 drabbles. 5 moments. 5 runes, traced on Alec's skin as reminders of his feelings for Jace.





	Run beneath my Runes

 

_“To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves._ ”  
**Federico Garcia Lorca**

 

 

**PRECISION**

Alec’s hands wield the bow with confidence.  
He turns towards Jace, who is lazily fiddling with his stele. He's bare-chested, and the lighting in the gym projects an intricate game of shadows on his skin.  
Alec looks away, strangely uncomfortable.  
His arrow misses the bull’s eye by a large margin: it’s the first time that it happens in months.   
“I think you could use this,” Jace laughs, grabbing his hand.  
Alec stares: his cheeks flush in shame.  
He can’t look at Jace, as his stele softly caresses his skin, tracing a _Precision_ rune.  
He'll have to be more careful next time.

 

**CLARITY**

_Clarity_ runes are simple to reproduce.  
Alec draws one on his forearm, hoping to get some answers.  
His head is filled with confusion: training with Jace is becoming more difficult, and avoiding him is even more complicated.  
The rune activates, irradiating him with lucidity.  
The confusion fades, and Alec’s thoughts unravel; his emotions get deeper, inundating every empty space in his body.  
Jace’s name surfaces in his mind with vehemence: _he’s_ the one filling all the spaces.  
The stele seems to burn in his hand, and Alec drops it.  
Panic crawls under his skin: he can’t hide from himself anymore.  
Sooner or later, the rune will fade.  
The answers he obtained won’t.  
 

**CALM ANGER**

“Come on, Alec!”  
Jace’s voice is carefree, but unusually hoarse.  
Alec slams the door in his face. It’s not enough to shut down what he just saw: the image of a girl wrapped around Jace – her head tilted back, pleasure painted on both of their faces.  
“I know I skipped training, but I’ve been a little busy…”  
Alec can easily picture his smirk - all flushed cheeks and gleaming eyes.  
Rage paves its way inside his ribcage, as he holds onto his stele.  
The anger slowly withers, soaked up by the rune on his arm, but the pain and shame persist.  
And the door stays shut.  
 

**PARABATAI**

Alec is scared.  
He realizes that as Jace’s stele marks his skin, tracing the rune that will tie them together irreversibly.  
He’s afraid of the invisible strings that are binding them, of the intensity with which he can sense Jace’s affection and trust. He’s afraid of the hesitation, the unsteadiness in his hand, as he reciprocates, marking Jace with the _Parabatai_ rune.  
He’s terrified that Jace might feel it – that he might _understand_ – and that _that_ might hurt him, pushing him away.  
But when Alec sees his smile, a glimmer of pride in his eyes, he knows that Jace would never doubt him: he _chose_ him, rebelling against his father’s teachings, so that he could _entrust_ himself to him.  
And Alec would never let him down.  
  
 

**SOUNDLESS**

He’s been drawing it a lot, lately.  
To soothe the telling noise of his accelerated heartbeat.  
To muffle the sound of his nervous footsteps in his room, and of his fists smashed against the wall.   
He’s using it even now.  
Jace has fallen asleep, worn out by his own chatter.  
In _his_ bed, no less, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to do.  
Alec draws the rune close to his heart.  
 Only like that, with that scribble on his chest, does he find the courage to approach him.  
To bring his lips to his ear. To confess something that has been suffocating him for years.  
 "Jace, I think I’m in…”  
The rest of the sentence gets swallowed up by the night: the _Soundless_ rune has fulfilled its purpose.  
 

  
   
  

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!  
> This is the first time I try to translate one of my works in English and I definitely have a lot to learn!  
> I wanted to thank [SapphicAlexandra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicalexandra), who helped me a lot with the translation!  
> Another big shoutout goes to [CharaHudson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharaHudson/pseuds/CharaHudson), who beta-read the drabbles in Italian!


End file.
